6.  The applicants are:
7.  The applicants are respectively the mother, wife and daughter of Khasan Vakhidovich Yusupov, born in 1979. At the material time they lived together at 25 Budennogo Street, Achkhoy-Martan. Khasan Yusupov served as a private in the military commandant’s office of Achkhoy-Martan (the district military commander’s office).
8.  In the morning of 15 November 2002 Khasan Yusupov went from Achkhoy-Martan to Khankala by car. Two other servicemen from the military commandant’s office of Achkhoy-Martan travelled with him: commander of platoon A.A. and private A.M. They had an appointment at the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102. The three servicemen had been summoned to the military prosecutor’s office in relation to a criminal investigation opened against A.M. They travelled in the personal Moskvich-412 car of driver Ilyas B.
9.  Until about 2.30 p.m. the servicemen and Ilyas B. were in communication by radio with the military commander’s office and with Ibragim B., Ilyas B.’s brother, who was also serving in the district military commandant’s office. Then the radio connection was cut.
10.  Five days later the first applicant went to the district military commander’s office and enquired about Khasan Yusupov. She was told that he and his colleagues had left for an appointment at the military prosecutor’s office of Khankala in connection with a criminal case pending against A.M.
11.  On the following day the applicants went to the military prosecutor’s office in Khankala and met investigator L., who told them that Khasan Yusupov and his colleagues had left his office on 15 November 2002 at around 3 p.m.
12.  A taxi driver who had been parked next to the military prosecutor’s office on the afternoon of 15 November 2002 told the applicants that Khasan Yusupov and some others had been taken by the authorities late in the afternoon to cars which had left for unknown destinations. However, he refused to make any formal statement in this respect. The applicants are not aware of his identity.
13.  It appears that Ilyas B.’s Moskvich-412 car remained in front of checkpoint no. 1 of the Khankala military base until 18 November 2002, when it was collected by his brother, Ibragim B.
14.  On 5 or 6 December 2002 a young man told the applicants that he had been detained with Khasan Yusupov in Khankala for three days and that the latter had stayed there. He refused to give any formal testimony or to disclose his identity.
15.  The applicants and other relatives of the disappeared men have had no news of them since 15 November 2002.
16.  The Government denied that the applicants’ relative and three other men had been detained by representatives of the State. They stated that on 15 November 2002 Khasan Yusupov, two other servicemen of the district military commander’s office and driver Ilyas B. had gone to Khankala, after which they disappeared. Their whereabouts have not been established so far.
17.  Since 15 November 2002 the applicants have repeatedly applied in person and in writing to various public bodies. They have been supported in their efforts by the SRJI NGO. In their letters to the authorities the applicants referred to their relative’s disappearance and asked for assistance and details of the investigation. The applicants submitted some of the letters to the authorities and the replies to the Court, which are summarised below.
18.  In December 2002 (in the Government’s submissions this date is indicated as 21 November 2002) the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102 (the unit’s military prosecutor’s office) opened criminal proceedings (file no.34/33/0645-02) concerning the disappearance of Khasan Yusupov and his colleagues. It does not appear that the applicants were made aware of this investigation or that any of the relatives of the disappeared men were questioned within this set of proceedings.
19.  On 14 January 2003 the applicants were informed that their request for an investigation into Khasan Yusupov’s disappearance had been transmitted to the head of Achkhoy-Martan district administration, the district prosecutor, the military prosecutor and the military commandant of the Chechen Republic, with a view to organising the necessary investigation.
20.  On 28 November 2003 the unit’s military prosecutor informed the applicants that it had not been established that federal military personnel were implicated in the kidnapping of Khasan Yusupov. The case was accordingly transmitted to the prosecutor of the Chechen Republic (the Chechnya Prosecutor’s Office).
21.  On 1 December 2003 the investigator of the Achkhoy-Martan district police department (ROVD) opened criminal proceedings (no. 44690) in accordance with Article 105 part 2 (a) of the Criminal Code on account of murder committed by unknown perpetrators. On 2 December 2003 the first applicant was granted victim status in these proceedings.
22.  On 20 December 2003 the Chechnya Prosecutor’s Office ordered the Achkhoy-Martan district prosecutor to conduct certain specific investigations in the case.
23.  On 24 December 2003 the case was sent to the Grozny district prosecutor’s office.
24.  On 5 January 2003 the military prosecutor’s office of the United Group Alliance (UGA) informed the applicants that case no. 34/33/0645-02 had been remitted to the unit’s military prosecutor for further investigation.
25.  On 30 March 2004 the unit military prosecutor informed the applicants that the case had been transmitted once more to the Chechnya Prosecutor’s Office.
26.  On 20 July 2004 the investigation of the criminal case no. 14/33/0645-02D was reopened by the unit’s military prosecutor’s office. On 20 August 2004 that office informed the applicants that no positive result had been achieved in the investigation, but did not specify if the investigation had been pending or adjourned.
27.  On 25 August 2004 the SRJI, acting on the applicants’ behalf, asked the district prosecutor’s office to provide them with an update on the investigation. In particular, they asked the prosecutor to inform them and the applicants whether criminal case no. 44690 was still with that office, whether the proceedings were pending or adjourned and whether the previous set of instructions of the supervising prosecutor of 20 December 2003 had been carried out.
28.  On 10 October 2004 the district prosecutor’s office responded to the applicants and the SRJI that the investigation had been transferred to the Grozny district prosecutor’s office on 24 December 2003.
29.  Following another letter from the SRJI, on 11 December 2004 the Grozny district prosecutor’s office submitted that the investigation in the criminal case no. 44690 had been pending with their office since 1 February 2004. It had failed to establish that Khasan Yusupov and three other men had been killed.
30.  The first applicant submitted that at the end of 2004 Ibragim B., deputy military commander of the district, had brought them 10,500 roubles (RUB) and explained that this was Khasan Yusupov’s salary for three months. In spring 2005 the second applicant received RUB 43,000 at the district military commander’s office, for which she had signed a pay cheque. The servicemen of the military commander’s office told her that it was Khasan Yusupov’s salary for one year.
31.  On 17 March 2005 the Grozny district prosecutor’s office informed the first applicant, without indicating the date of the decision, that the investigation had been adjourned for failure to identify the persons against whom charges must be brought (Article 208, part 1, paragraph 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
32.  On 2 November 2005 the SRJI again requested information about the progress of the investigation from the Grozny district prosecutor’s office.
33.  On 3 March 2008 an investigator of the Grozny department of the Investigative Committee of the General Prosecutor’s Office informed the first applicant that on the same day proceedings in case no. 44690, in which she had been granted victim status, had been reopened and that their office was carrying out the investigation.
34.  On 3 April 2008 the same office informed the first applicant that on 2 April 2008 the proceedings had been adjourned for failure to identify the perpetrators of the crime. On 8 April 2008 the proceedings were again reopened, of which the first applicant was informed on the following day.
35.  The first applicant submitted that as late as March 2004 the weapons belonging to the three servicemen of the military commander’s office which they had been carrying on the day of their disappearance had not been recorded as missing or searched for.
36.  Further to a request by the Court, the Government produced ninety-two pages of documents from criminal case no. 44690, including witness statements and copies of decisions to suspend and resume the investigation and to grant victim status, as well as notifications to the relatives of the adjournment and reopening of the proceedings.
37.  According to these documents and the Government submissions, the criminal investigation into the disappearance of the applicant’s relative and three other men was opened on 1 December 2003. It was triggered by the complaints of the relatives of the disappeared persons to the Achkhoy-Martan and Grozny ROVD and the Achkhoy-Martan district prosecutor’s office of 20-24 November 2003. The investigation file was opened under Article 105 part 2 of the Criminal Code (aggravated murder) and assigned no. 44690. On 9 December 2003 the Achkhoy-Martan ROVD transferred the investigation to the district prosecutor’s office.
38.  Prior to and immediately after the formal opening of the investigation, between 20 November and 15 December 2003, officers of the Grozny district and Achkhoy-Martan ROVD questioned and collected explanations from eight relatives of the missing men. Four of them, including the first applicant, were granted victim status in the proceedings.
39.  Thus, the first applicant was questioned on 20, 21 and 24 November. She explained that in May 2002 her son Khasan Yusupov had been serving at the military commander’s office of Achkhoy-Martan as a private. He lived at home with her and with his wife and minor son. On 15 November 2002 he, together with two other servicemen, went to Khankala on the summons of a military prosecutor’s office issued in relation to a criminal investigation against A.M. He had been armed with an automatic rifle and a pistol, as well as a complete set of ammunition. He never returned. She mentioned Ibragim B., the brother of Ilyas B., who had last seen the men in front of the military prosecutor’s office. When questioned on 21 November 2003 she and Raisa A., the wife of A.A., mentioned unnamed witnesses who had seen two armoured vehicles in front of the checkpoint no. 1 of the Khankala compound. Servicemen from these vehicles had searched Khasan Yusupov and Ilyas B., who had been waiting for A.A. and A.M. in front of the gates.
40.  Other relatives of the missing men gave similar statements about the circumstances of their disappearance. They mentioned that investigator L. from the military prosecutor’s office, on whose summons their relatives had come to Khankala, had told them that the three men had left his office after 3 p.m. and that the military commander’s office where they had served had had no information about their whereabouts after 15 November 2002. The relatives submitted that after 15 November 2002 they had inquired about their missing relatives with various official bodies but had obtained no relevant information. The mother and wife of Ilyas B. also stated that on 16 November 2002 their house was searched by the officers of the Achkhoy-Martan ROVD and on the following day, on 17 November 2002, by servicemen of the criminal police department of the military prosecutor’s office from Khankala. In both cases no documents had been produced or drawn up, and nothing had been taken from the house. The women indicated, in particular, that the servicemen had inspected Ilyas B.’s room and had asked whether there were any weapons in the house.
41.  On 6 December 2003 the investigation questioned Ibragim B., brother of driver Ilyas B., deputy military commander of the Achkhoy-Martan district. He stated that on 15 November 2002 his brother had contacted him by radio and said that he and three servicemen of the military commander’s office had arrived in Khankala. Ibragim B. knew the radio callsigns for all three servicemen. Shortly after 2 p.m. Ibragim B. arrived at checkpoint no. 1 and saw Khasan Yusupov and his brother, in the latter’s car. They had been waiting for the two other servicemen, who had not been released from the prosecutor’s office. They tried to reach A.M. and A.A. by radio but there was no response. The witness asked his brother to inform him by radio once the servicemen had come out, and then went to Grozny. At about 3 p.m. Ibragim B. himself called Khasan Yusupov, who said that they were still waiting. There was no radio contact after that. The witness thought his brother and three servicemen had returned to Achkhoy-Martan. On the following day Ibragim B. learnt that the four men had disappeared. On 17 November 2002 his house in Achkhoy-Martan had been searched by investigators from the military prosecutor’s office in Khankala, without any documents. The investigators looked for weapons but did not find anything. The witness ordered three servicemen from his office to follow the two UAZ cars with the investigators and thus learnt that they had returned to Khankala. The witness stated that he had informed the military commander of the district and of Chechnya about the disappearances. One military prosecutor from Khankala confirmed to him orally that he had authorised the search at his house in Achkhoy-Martan; however this search was unrelated to the disappearance. The witness also alleged that some time later he had met Saykhudi B. from Borzoy, who had told him that between 21 and 23 November 2002 he had been detained in the cellar of the criminal police department of the UGA in Khankala together with Khasan Yusupov. The latter told him that the four men who had come to Khankala on the summons of a military prosecutor had been detained and then separated. He stated that Khasan Yusupov had been questioned about his contacts and that he had asked Saykhudi to transfer the information about his detention to the district military commander’s office. Ibragim B. stated that he had asked Saykhudi B. to testify in person at the military prosecutor’s office; however the latter refused. Finally, Ibragim B. stated that at some point, under pressure from the military commander’s office, the premises of the criminal police in Khankala had been inspected, but no traces of his brother or of the three other men had been found. They had made complaints to the military prosecutor’s office, which had produced no results.
42.  On 12 December 2003 a detective of the Achkhoy-Martan ROVD reported to his superior that Saykhudi B. from Borzoy had left Chechnya for Germany early in 2003.
43.  On 27 December 2003 the district military commander’s office informed the district prosecutor’s office that three of their servicemen, senior non-commissioned officer A.A. and privates Khasan Yusupov and A.M., had disappeared on 15 November 2002 in unknown circumstances. The letter contained a description and the serial numbers of the guns and ammunitions carried by the three men at the time. The letter further referred to information from investigator L., who had confirmed that the three men had left his office by 3 p.m. on 15 November 2002, and to the testimony of Ibragim B. who had seen the servicemen in front of checkpoint no. 1 in Khankala at about the same time.
44.  On 2 February 2004 the unit military prosecutor’s office informed the district prosecutor’s office that on 11 September 2002 they had opened a criminal investigation into a crime of using or threatening violence against an official, allegedly committed by private A.M. On 21 December 2002 A.M., A.A. and Khasan Yusupov were charged with desertion from military service, committed by an armed group. The said persons have been put on the wanted list. The documents submitted by the Government contain no further information about the progress in any of these cases.
45.  The first applicant was questioned again in February 2004. In March 2005 the investigation questioned and granted victim status to Khasan Yusupov’s father. At that time the prosecutor’s office compiled a comprehensive description of the missing man, including his clothes and physical details. In March 2005 the investigators also questioned once again Ilyas B.’s wife and Ibragim B., who was asked to provide a detailed description and a photo of his missing brother.
46.  On 17 March 2005 the district prosecutor’s office informed the victims that the investigation had been adjourned for failure to find the perpetrators.
47.  According to the Government, the investigation failed to establish the whereabouts of Khasan Yusupov and three other men. The law enforcement authorities of Chechnya had never arrested or detained Khasan Yusupov on criminal or administrative charges and had not carried out a criminal investigation in his respect. There is no evidence linking them with illegal armed groups.
48.  According to the documents and information submitted by the Government, between December 2003 and March 2008 the investigation was suspended and resumed on several occasions, and has so far failed to identify those guilty.
49.  Despite specific requests by the Court the Government did not disclose the complete set of documents of criminal case no. 44690 and did not provide a list of documents contained within. Relying on information obtained from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the unspecified remaining documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained personal data concerning other participants in the criminal proceedings.